ABSTRACT
This chapter should be treated as an appendix. It is included for completeness and covers certain fundamentals of quantum mechanics that will aid the understanding of topics discussed in this textbook. The reader is urged to refer to many of the good introductory textbooks on the subject to learn or revisit the fundamental concepts [1, 2, 3, 4]. First, we briefly discuss three key ingredients of quantum mechanics, i.e.,
the blackbody radiation spectrum, the concept of the photon and de Broglie wavelength, and the related wave-particle duality concept. Next, we briefly restate the four major postulates of quantum mechanics used in the so-called orthodox or Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics that is in vogue. We continue on to describe a generalized form of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle which is illustrated with a few familiar bound state problems (particle-in-a-box and one-dimensional harmonic oscillator) and a few spin related problems.
